Improvement in leather-finishing machines



J'. C. McVEAN. LEATHER FINISHING-MACHINE.

Patented Feb..15 ,187 6.

- I Invenior: I

"PETERS, PNOTO-U'TNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTGN, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrxon.

JOHN G. MOVEAN, OF oannnonrmnnwvonn.

IMPROVEMENT .IN LEATHER- FlNlSHlNG MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,487, dated February15 1876; app ication filed December 29, 1875.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN G. MGVEAN, of Caledonia, in the county ofLivingston and Statebt' New York, have invented a new and useful"Improvement in LeathenStaking Ma;

7 face of leather, by passing it between one or more pairs of revolvingrollers, the angles formed by the same and relative speed of which beingso arranged, and their surfaces grooved or corrugated in such amanner,as to act upon the leather with the desired effect. The machine isintended more particularly to operate upon tanned skins of the sheep,goat, dog, &c., used in the manufacture of gloves, mittens, 85c.

. In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of my invention, the dottedoutline representing a hide passingthrough the same. Fig. 2shows avertical section of the same upon the dotted line a: in Fig. 1, viewedin the direction of the arrow y. Fig. 3 shows a modification of themanner of hanging the various rollers.

1t and R are a pair of feed-rollers, having their axes parallel and in avertical plane, with their surfaces grooved longitudinally and rollingtogether similar to cog-wheels. P and P are a pair of'parallel napping-rollers placed one over the other, Fig. 2,having their surfaces cutinto spiral grooves winding in op posite directions. D, Fig. 1, is theupper roller of a similar pair. The rollers P and D, with their matesvunder them, are set so as to form an angle with the rollers R and R,and with each other. The said rollers P and D are driven from the shaft0 by means of the gearing shown at G and G", the three rollers P, I),and R revolving in the same direction, and each turning its mate in adirection opposite.

F and F are a pair of finishing-rollers, the

latter having a plain cylindrical surface while the former is providedwith several longitudinal ribs made slightly spiraling. H, is the toproller of a similar pair, and the said rollers F and H are driven bythebelts e and 6', respectively, running from P and D. The roller F, andthe corresponding one under H,

are revolved by the friction. of the leather passing over them. B is ahorizontal bar, supported in standards I and l, at some distance abovethe oblique rollers, from which extend. the spring-hangers s s,supporting the journals of the transversely-grooved roller 1'. Thesimilarly-grooved roller arests nearly under the said roller 4" in thestandard 0, and is v revolved by the carrier-belts b runningfrom theroller R. The spring-hangers s are intended to press the roller 1"firmly down upon the leather as it-passe's through. The sharp edges leftby the grooves cut in the surfaces of the said rollers r and a guide theleather through centrally, and prevent it being drawn to one side by theaction of the outwardly-inclined rollers P and D, and their mates. Theshaft 0 rests between the forks of the bifurcated standards It and f andf are rods hooked or bent over the said shaft. passing down through thebench or table-A, thelower projecting ends of which each enters a nut,between which andthe under-surface of the bench are confined springs g.-This allows the roller R to have a slight vertical movement and to riseagainst the action of the springs g, as a side of leather is fed inbetween the rollers R and R. The ends of the rollers P, D, F, and H,nearest the gears G and G, are similarly hung in bifurcated standardsand held down by the rodsi, z", k, and k, respectively, which allowssaid ends to rise and fall as the leather crowds through. The other endsof the rollers P, D,

F, and H are journaled in "the triangular blocks E and I, respectively,both of which blocks are fastened rigidly to the bar B. The said bar Bis pivoted at one end'in the standard 1-, the other end of which movesup or down between the forks of the bifurcated standard l, and is helddown by the rod (1 and spring From the foregoing it will be understoodthat the top roller of each of the several pairs is held down upon theupper surface of the leather, when the same is passing through, byspring action, in addition to its own weight. The sides of leather,first made damp, are fed in between the feed-rollers R and It, in thedirection indicated by the arrow 3 and the rollers P and D, with theirmates, being set at an angle, tend to draw the leather in the directionsindicated by the arrows and y",

respectively. This results in stretching the leather laterally; and asthe said rollers P and D revolve more rapidly than the feedrollers, theleather is stretched longitudinally or in the direction indicated by thearrow 3 Again, the leather being held firmly between the feed-rollers Rand R, and only moving forward as they move, the sharp edges of the morerapidly revolving napping-rollers P and D scrape or abrade the uppersurface of the leather, raising the fiber into a nap. The nap, whenraised, is laid and finished by the strokes of the spiral ribs of theyet more rapidly revolving finishing-rollers F and H. It is intended toform the nap on the hair side of the leather, which side must beuppermost while passing through the machine.

I design to have other pairs of rollers with coarser or finer groovescut in their surface, and of difi'erent twist and diameter to substitutefor the napping and finishing rollers above described, for doingvarieties of work, and to operate upon skins differing in textureand-hardness; also, to use rollers in place of the one shown at P, andthe corresponding one under D, having thethreads or ribs upon theirsurface well rounded and smooth on their edge, for the purpose ofpressing and compacting the fibers on the under surface of the leather,whilethe sharp-edged rollers P and D form a nap on the upper surface ofthe same.

It may be desirable to cushion the bottom roller of each pair upon aspring or other yielding substance, similar to the manner shown at Fig.3, instead of the upper rollers, as above described.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination,in aleather-staking machine,substantially as described, of grooved nappingrollers, with rollers forfeeding the leather.

2. In combination with feed-rollers in a leather-staking machine,napping-rollers set to form an angle with said feed-rollers,substantially as described.

3.'In a leather-staking machine, in combination with napping-rollers,finishing-rollers to lay and finish the nap formed upon the surface ofthe leather, substantially as described.

4. Spring-hangers s s, in combination with bar B, and guide-roller r, ina leather staking machine, substantially as described.

5. In a leather-staking machine, guidingrollers 1' and a, in combinationwith feed-rollers, substantially as described.

JOHN C. MOVEAN.

Witnesses:

GEO. A. HUBBARD, JOHN S. NAsH.

